For REAL NEWS ... GET INFORMED! TODAY at San Javier Murcia Airport, Spain LOW Cost Ads! --- THE Newspaper for the COSTA CALIDA --- FREE Ad. Design Service! Home Contact Local News Worldwide Amusing Stories Classifieds Clubs/Societies Emergency & Useful Numbers Horoscope Pharmacy Rotas To the EDITOR Advertising Rates, etc. Newspaper Subscription Mail Direct to the Editor WORLD NEWS    China defends human rights record    Russia claims world-record dive    Oprah school abuse trial starts    4 Amusing Stories China defends human rights record: Beijing has rejected claims that the human rights situation in China has deteriorated in the run-up to its hosting of the Olympic Games. China's foreign ministry said a report by Amnesty International showed the group had "tainted glasses". The report accused China of reneging on its promises of greater freedom, with activists jailed, journalists detained and more people sent to labour camps. But Beijing said people who understood China would not agree with Amnesty. Foreign ministry spokesman Li Jianchao said: "I hope that Amnesty International can take off the tainted glasses they have been wearing for years and see China in a fair and objective way, and do something more constructive." He insisted that there should be no interference in China's affairs. The China Society for Human Rights Studies, which has links to the government, also dismissed the Amnesty report. Spokeswoman Xiong Lei told the BBC: "We do feel that we have problems, but we are solving them and the human rights situation is getting better and better." When it was awarded the Games, China pledged to uphold the values of human dignity associated with the Olympian tradition. It promised an improvement in human rights, media freedom and better provision in health and education. But Amnesty's report, entitled The Olympics Countdown: Broken Promises, says the opposite has occurred. It says Chinese activists have been locked up, people have been made homeless, journalists have been detained, websites blocked, and that the use of labour camps and prison beatings has increased. "We've seen a deterioration in human rights because of the Olympics," said Roseann Rife, a deputy programme director for Amnesty International. "Specifically we've seen crackdowns on domestic human rights activists, media censorship and increased use of re-education through labour as a means to clean up Beijing and surrounding areas." The report names individual activists including Hu Jia, Yang Chunlin and Ye Guozhu as among those who had effectively been silenced by the government in the run-up to the Games. BBC China editor Shirong Chen says ordinary people in China are increasingly aware of their rights and are prepared to defend them. But, he adds, the Chinese Communist Party will punish severely any perceived challenge to its authority, including lengthy imprisonment for some campaigners. Amnesty is calling on world leaders attending the Games to speak out. French President Nicolas Sarkozy - after some consideration - has confirmed he will attend the opening ceremony on 8 August, as will US President George W Bush. Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel and Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper plan to stay away, while British Prime Minister Gordon Brown - in his capacity of leader of the next Olympic Games host nation - will attend the closing ceremony only. Meanwhile, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said it would investigate claims that the internet service provided for media covering the Games was being censored. Journalists have reported problems when attempting to access the internet network at Beijing's main press centre. China's foreign ministry said media should be able to use the internet, although websites linked to the Falun Gong spiritual movement, considered a cult by Beijing, would be blocked. Back to Top  or   NEXT STORY Russia claims world-record dive: Russian scientists say they have broken the world record for the deepest dive in a body of fresh water, plumbing the depths of Lake Baikal in Siberia. Russian news reports said two manned mini-submarines successfully plunged 1,680m (5,512ft) to the lake's bed. The mission is part of a two-year plan aimed at conserving the ecosystem of Lake Baikal, which contains about one-fifth of the world's fresh water. The area was declared a Unesco World Heritage site in 1996. Russia's Interfax and Itar-Tass news agencies cited expedition organisers as saying that the Mir I and Mir II mini-submarines had touched the bottom of the lake. "This is a world record for a submarine diving in fresh water," Interfax quoted an organiser as saying. However, the Russian team say they are still awaiting official confirmation of the depth of the dive. The Mir capsules are already in the record books for their undersea expeditions - descending to depths greater than 4,000m. Before the expedition set off, leader Artur Chilingarov described it as a complex one. "There are technological problems, fickle weather conditions. Fresh water dictates its own special conditions," he said. The two 18-tonne mini-submarines were designed to operate in seawater - but have shed hundreds of kilos to make them buoyant enough in less dense fresh water. Mr Chilingarov also led a team of scientists to the North Pole in August last year - where they controversially staked Russia's claim by planting a flag on the seabed. The BBC's James Rodgers, at Lake Baikal, says the latest expedition is another sign of the Kremlin's desire to show the world the kind of feat a newly confident Russia is capable of. Environmentalists had expressed concern that Russia intended to exploit the lake's mineral wealth, but expedition leaders insisted the mission was for research and conservation purposes only. Mr Chilingarov said his team would put together "a package of practical measures and recommendations" to promote conservation of the lake. Lake Baikal, formed 25 million years ago, is home to hundreds of species of flora and fauna. One of the most unusual animals unique to the lake is the Baikal seal - one of the few seals to spend its life in fresh water. Back to Top  or   NEXT STORY Oprah school abuse trial starts: A former matron at Oprah Winfrey's school in South Africa has pleaded not guilty at the start of her trial for allegedly abusing students. The six teenage alleged victims will testify in private, as the prosecutor said they were "very scared". Virginia Mokgobo, 28, who worked at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy near Johannesburg, was arrested last year. The US talk-show host has said she was herself abused as a child and has campaigned against abuse in the US. The school was opened in 2007 at a cost of $40m (£20m). Ms Winfrey pledged to build the academy after a meeting with former South African President Nelson Mandela six years ago, and personally interviewed many of the South African girls from low-income families who applied for the initial 150 places at the school. Ms Mokgobo was arrested last year on charges including assault, indecent assault and soliciting under-age girls to perform indecent acts. Ms Winfrey has described the charges as one of the most devastating experiences in her life, and said she had not renewed the head mistress's contract. She praised the students who reported the alleged abuse. "My experience with child predators is that no-one ever, ever abuses just one child," she said last November. She said that because of the high rates of rape and sexual abuse in South Africa, she had tried to ensure predators would not be able to reach students at the school. Back to Top  or   NEXT STORY 4: Back to Top  or   NEXT STORY AMUSING STORIES . . . For the FULL INFORMER Experience, take out a Newspaper Subscription ... you'll be amazed!